Registration now open for the flat, fast course.

The inaugural race, announced yesterday by race management company Run to You Racing, is scheduled for April 27, 2014, and it’s billing itself as a fast one.

Designed by veteran marathoner and race director Jim Chaney—with input from local runners—the course gains a total of 354 feet. And while there are a fair number of turns, the overall goal was to provide the fastest path from start to finish.

“It’s not Grandma’s, but there are some good long stretches, so you can run a fast time on this course,” says Chaney, referring to the notoriously fast Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota.

The spring date was selected primarily because Chaney believed the regional race calendar warranted another marathon. “[Cincinnati’s] Flying Pig Marathon a week later sells out, so does Pittsburgh and Cleveland, so we felt the demand was there,” he says.

The exact date, however, was based on Cleveland's race date. By scheduling the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon three weeks before Cleveland, runners can use the half-marathon as a tune-up event.

Weather was also a factor. The average low and high for April 27 is 45 degrees and 65 degrees, respectively. “That date is historically a great day to run,” says Chaney.

Both courses begin at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and sweep through city streets and residential neighborhoods before finishing across from the start at Fawcett Stadium.

Band and cheer zones are planned, and the race is also offering a training program through Jeff Galloway Training. Registration opened yesterday.

The race announced that it received $250,000 from a private investor in order to pay vendors and the city prior to runner registration.

The unusual move was an effort to distance the new race from the brouhaha caused by the financial woes of the Canton Marathon. That race was seven months late in paying the city following the inaugural event in 2012. The 2013 edition was canceled due to a dispute between the race’s two founders, presumably over financial challenges.

The Canton Marathon co-founders, Stephen Mears and Julia Dick, eventually went their separate ways. Mears is now launching the Hall of Fame City Challenge, a first-time marathon scheduled for September 8, but because of the previous late payments, the city of Canton has requested prepayment from Mears.

“There’s skepticism is local running circles now so we wanted to establish the brand as reliable upfront,” say Chaney.

The inaugural 2014 event will be capped at 1,500 marathoners and 4,500 half-marathons, but Chaney anticipates growing the race in the years to come.